1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to vacuum cleaners and, more particularly, to a vacuum cleaner provided with a detachable tool caddy unit designed to be detachably mounted to the cleaner body and to properly hold a variety of accessory tools and spare supplies on the cleaner body.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As well known to those skilled in the art, vacuum cleaners are electric appliances, which generate suction force by using drive means, such as a motor, and clean carpets, floors, etc., through a suction process and a filtering process. Of such conventional vacuum cleaners, a vacuum cleaner of the upright type is designed to stand on a horizontal surface while moving on the surface during a cleaning process. Particularly, such an upright-type vacuum cleaner is effectively used for cleaning a carpet laid on a horizontal surface.
FIG. 1 shows a conventional upright-type vacuum cleaner. As shown in the drawing, the conventional upright-type vacuum cleaner comprises a cleaner body 10, which is designed to stand on a horizontal surface while moving on the surface during a cleaning process. A suction unit 20 is mounted to the lower portion of the body 10, and sucks air laden with dust and impurities from a target surface by suction force at its suction nozzle. Provided at the upper end of the cleaner body 10 is a handle 30, which is gripped by a user""s hand while operating and moving the cleaner.
In the above vacuum cleaner, a flexible hose 40 extends from the body 10 to the suction unit 20, thus normally connecting the suction unit 20 to the cleaner body 10. In such a case, the connection structure between the suction unit 20 and the outside end of the flexible hose 40 comprises a detachable connection structure, and so it is possible for a user to selectively connect the outside end of the flexible hose 40 to either the suction unit 20 or an accessory tool, which will be described later herein, as desired.
FIGS. 2 and 3 are sectional views of the above-mentioned vacuum cleaner taken along the lines Ixe2x80x94I and IIxe2x80x94II of FIG. 1. As shown in the drawings, the conventional upright-type vacuum cleaner has the following construction.
That is, both a suction fan 11 and a fan motor 12 are set within the cleaner body 10, and generate desired suction force for the cleaner. In addition, a dust bag 13 is removably installed at a predetermined position of the upper portion within the body 10. The dust bag 13 is used for filtering sucked air to remove dust and impurities from the air prior to discharging the air from the body 10 into the atmosphere.
A brush roller 21 is mounted at the front end of the suction unit 20 at a position around the suction nozzle of the unit 20. This brush roller 21 is connected to the fan motor 12 through a power transmission belt 14 made of rubber, thus being rotatable by the rotating force of the fan motor 12 during a cleaning process. The above brush roller 21 actively brushes up dust and impurities from a carpet during a cleaning process of the carpet.
When the vacuum cleaner starts to clean a desired planar area, dust-laden air is sucked from the area into the suction unit 20 through the suction nozzle, provided at the front end portion of the bottom of the unit 20, by suction force formed by the fan 11 provided at the lower portion of the body 10. Thereafter, the sucked dust-laden air passes through the flexible hose 40 to reach the interior of the dust bag 13 installed within the body 10. The dust bag 13 thus filters the dust-laden air to remove dust and impurities from the air. In such a case, the filtered dust and impurities are collected within the dust bag 13. After the filtering process, air passes through the fan 11 prior to being discharged from the body 10 into the atmosphere. In such a case, the discharged air passes through an air discharging port, provided on the cleaner body 10.
As described above, the outside end of the flexible hose 40 is detachably connected to the suction unit 20, and so the cleaner is able to effectively clean a specific area, such as a crevice, which the suction nozzle of the fixed suction unit 20 cannot reach. That is, when it is desired to clean such a specific area using the cleaner, the outside end of the flexible hose 40 is removed from the suction unit 20 prior to an attachment of a desired accessory tool, such as a crevice nozzle 51 or a brush nozzle 52. When the crevice nozzle 51 or the brush nozzle 52 is attached to the outside end of the flexible hose 40 as described above, it is possible to effectively clean a specific area, such as a crevice, which the suction nozzle of the fixed suction unit 20 cannot reach.
The accessory tools, such as the crevice nozzle 51 and the brush nozzle 52, are given to a user along with the cleaner when the user purchases the cleaner. Such accessory tools are typically stored at an unfixed place separate from the cleaner body of the cleaner, and so they are inconvenient to the user since it is necessary for the user to take a desired accessory tool from such an unfixed place prior to mounting the tool to the outside end of the flexible hose 40. In practice, such accessory tools have to be often and intermittently used during a cleaning process, and the tools therefore cause an inconvenience to the user while taking them from an unfixed place during the cleaning process.
In an effort to overcome the above-mentioned problem, a vacuum cleaner, of which the body 10 has a desired number of tool holding recesses 10a having shapes and sizes capable of detachably holding the original accessory tools, such as the nozzles 51 and 52 on the body 10, has been proposed and used.
However, the vacuum cleaner having such specific holding recesses 10a is problematic in that the shapes and sizes of the recesses 10a are fixed even though the cleaner may be used with additional accessory tools having sizes and shapes different from those of the original accessory tools 51 and 52. That is, when an additional accessory tool, which is not included in the original accessory tools of the cleaner, is purchased and used, the additional accessory tool cannot be held on the specific holding recesses 10a of the body 10, but has to be stored at an unfixed place. In such a case, the vacuum cleaner causes an inconvenience to the user due to the additional accessory tool in the same manner as that described above.
In addition, the specific holding recesses 10a, necessarily formed on the body 10 of the vacuum cleaner, also cause a limitation in designing the body 10. That is, it is impossible to freely design the rear wall of the body 10 due to the holding recesses 10a. Such a limitation in the design of the body 10 regrettably reduces the market competitiveness of the cleaner.
Another problem experienced in the vacuum cleaner having such specific holding recesses 10a resides in that it does not have any means for holding desired spare supplies, such as spare dust bags, on the body 10 and forces a user to store the spare supplies at an unfixed place separate from the body 10. When a vacuum cleaner is designed to store desired spare supplies, such as spare dust bags, on its body 10, the cleaner is very convenient to the user while using the cleaner.
In addition, the power transmission belt 14, used for connecting the brush roller 21 to the fan motor 12, has to be replaced with a new one at the expiry of an expected life span of the belt 14. Therefore, it is sometimes necessary for the user to store one or more spare transmission belts. However, the body 10 of the convention vacuum cleaner is not provided with any means for storing such spare transmission belts, and so the spare belts create for the user an inconvenience in the storage of them at an unfixed place separate from the body 10.
Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vacuum cleaner, which is provided with a detachable tool caddy unit for easily holding a variety of accessory tools on the body of the leaner, and is convenient to the user.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a vacuum cleaner, which is provided with a means for easily storing desired spare supplies, such as a spare dust bag or a spare transmission belt, on the body of the cleaner, and is convenient to the user.
In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention provides a vacuum cleaner, comprising a cleaner body provided with a suction means for sucking dust-laden air into the cleaner body; a caddy unit detachably mounted to the cleaner body and used for detachably holding a variety of accessory tools on the cleaner body, the caddy unit consisting of a mounting plate detachably mounted to the cleaner body, with a clamp formed on the mounting plate and used for detachably holding the accessory tools on the plate; and a means for detachably mounting the caddy unit on a predetermined portion of the cleaner body.
In an embodiment, the caddy unit mounting means comprises: a locking hook provided at the upper portion of the mounting plate of the caddy unit, a locking projection provided at the lower portion of the mounting plate, a locking hole formed on a predetermined portion of the cleaner body at a position corresponding to the locking hook and brought into detachable engagement with the locking hook when the caddy unit is mounted to the cleaner body, and a locking slot formed on a predetermined portion of the cleaner body at a position corresponding to the locking projection and brought into detachable engagement with the locking projection. The locking slot is downwardly inclined rearward at its front surface, thus allowing the tool caddy unit to be more easily and simply mounted to the cleaner body.
A pocket, used for storing desired articles therein, may be provided on a predetermined portion of the caddy unit. This pocket comprises two sidewalls perpendicularly extending out of opposite side edges of the mounting plate of the caddy unit at the lower portion of the mounting plate, and a front cover hinged to the lower portion of the mounting plate and used for selectively forming the pocket in cooperation with the two sidewalls when it is fully closed.
In addition, a belt holding rib projects on the internal surface of the front cover or on the mounting plate of the caddy unit. This belt holding rib is used for holding a spare transmission belt within the pocket when necessary.